Karnataka   

TP member's unruly behaviour forces postponement of polls

DAVANGERE: In a strange turn of events, Harpanahalli tahsildar T.V. Prakash developed chest pain after rebel Congress member Gudi Nagaraj snatched the nomination papers of three candidates from him and tore them during the elections to the posts of president and vice-president of Harpanahalli town panchayat on Saturday. Following this, he was rushed to hospital. Later, the Assistant Commissioner of Harpanahalli declared that the elections had been postponed. Janata Dal (S) is the single largest party in the town panchayat with 15 members, while the Congress has 11 members and BJP one in the 27-member town panchayat.

Congress candidate Patil Bettanagowda and BJP candidate Abdul Rehaman had submitted the nomination papers for the post of president, while Kavitha Suresh had submitted papers for the vice-president's post. Nine members of the JD(S) had an understanding with the BJP and extended support to it, while six others supported the Congress.

Nagaraj, rebel Congress candidate, rushed to Mr. Prakash's table, snatched the nomination papers of all the three and tore them. All those present in the meeting hall were shocked by the sudden turn of events when the tahasildar developed chest pain and almost fell to the ground..

The Congress condemned the incident, describing it as a drama directed by Revenue Minister G. Karunakara Reddy. They alleged that the BJP wanted to come to power by hook or by crook and had hence planned the drama to buy time. They had plans to entice members of other parties to its fold, he alleged. Demanding a high-level inquiry into the incident, the Congress said that it was unfortunate that the BJP had stooped to such cheap political dramas to come to power.

Meanwhile, the police arrested Mr. Nagaraj based on complaints from some Congress members. The tahsildar is yet to file a complaint with the police on the incident. Tension prevailed in Harpanahalli town following the incident.

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